We made it.
International breaks are hard to endure at the best of times. When they’re friendlies, it’s even worse. When they’re friendly double-headers, though, you really start to miss the excitement of meaningful football.
But we’re back. Two weeks later and we have some Premier League matches upon us once again. There are some tasty fixtures in store this weekend, too, like Everton hosting Manchester City and Chelsea facing off against Tottenham in a pivotal game in the race for fourth.
Yes, that’s what international friendlies do to us – we’re getting excited about the race for fourth.
Jose Mourinho will certainly be hoping that Manchester United can avoid getting sucked into the scramble for Champions League spots. United are currently second, two, four and nine points ahead of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Only three points will do for United as they host Swansea City at Old Trafford on Saturday, but Mourinho will have been pleased that two of his players, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba, shone during their endeavours for France.
What the Portuguese coach wouldn’t have been too pleased about, however, was the speculation surrounding Pogba during the international break. Firstly, France manager Didier Deschamps didn’t exactly help extinguish the idea that Pogba is unhappy at United before reports emerged claiming that Mourinho had sought advice from the Les Bleus manager over how to best utilise the midfielder’s talents.
However, Mourinho was quick to put paid to that rumour during his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
“Not true,” said the United boss when asked if he had spoken to Deschamps. “The last time I spoke with Didier Deschamps was probably when we played against each other in 2004.”
That certainly ends that strand of speculation.
Pogba put his recent club woes behind him to shine for France, scoring and notching an assist in his country’s 3-1 win over Russia on Tuesday.
Mourinho, however, would not comment on his player’s display.
“I don’t comment on my players’ performances for their national teams,” he said.